1. Flowers in the bathroom. For two reasons in particular: it means the gnats are all gone and these flowers were perfectly good but must have been from last week because they were half off at the grocery store.

2. It’s biscuit season, which means all the yummy fall foods like soup and roasted veggies and apple pie. I’m trying to focus on that instead of mourning the berries and cucumbers and such.

3. Eric. He’s my favorite. Sometimes, instead of sending just a text that says “heading home from work” or “having fun hiking with Ringo,” he’ll send me a selfie instead. Next to kitchen counter love notes, it’s one of my favorite things. Remember how we made a list of 25 Things for 25 Years, all the stuff we were going to do together to celebrate being married for 25 years? We haven’t done many of the exact things on the list yet, but it’s inspiring us to do more stuff together, like on Saturday we are going to a 1.5-hour workshop at our gym called “Stretch & Release” and I bought tickets for an improv show. What I’m saying is it’s not so much the list but the way the list has inspired us to start dating again, besides just going out to dinner (which I’m not knocking; it’s one of our favorite things).

Ringo’s happy place.

4. The other two boys in my tiny family. As I start to think about what it’s going to be like to not be working at CSU anymore, one of the things I’m most looking forward to is being around Sam and Ringo more. If you have a pet you love like I love mine, you know how hard it is to leave them some days, and how much you miss them when you’re gone. Since I can’t seem to teach them how to use a smart phone and text me, send me selfies like their dad, being home more is the next best solution.

He couldn’t tell if I was going to take a shower, but he was right there ready, just in case.

This is one of Sam’s favorite spots in the house. Having anxiety requires such things.

You might not see it, but he’s giving me his stink face, his version of an eye roll.

His legs are ridiculously long.

Bonus joy: Teaching yoga at Red Sage, Curvy Yoga teacher training, hanging out with Aramati having deep conversations about really important stuff but also finding stuff to laugh about too, meditating with Mikalina and hanging out afterward, sleeping in, clean sheets, swimming lessons with Nick, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna with Eric, crisp apples, sunshine, getting the laundry done on Friday, fish tacos, peanut butter and jelly, running into Chloe’ and Pancho out on a walk, cute videos of the cutest tiny humans and animals, turning up my favorite song really loud, how much dumb stuff sometimes makes Eric and I laugh, Lila is WALKING! (she’s just a baby, so it’s kind of a big deal), knowing I could do so much more and what I’ve already done is enough.

From our walk this morning

1. Surprise naps, like the one I took Friday afternoon that made me forget I still hadn’t put together this post, but clearly was something I really really really needed.

Sam and Eric, from our walk this morning

2. Morning walks. Sam has gone a little over three miles the last few mornings and another mile or so in the afternoon without seeming to be too stiff or sore from it.

3. Practice. We have a three bedroom house, but the whole house is only 1088 square feet, so the third bedroom, where I practice (and do retreats, online classes, read, study, write, and sometimes sleep), is only about 8 x 9 square feet, and can feel a little tight. Even so, because I’ve been infusing that space with such good energy, so much effort and ease, for years, it feels spacious. I’m doing two yoga teacher trainings right now, soon to add a third, so I’m spending almost every weekend, all weekend in there. I’m also grateful for smart, compassionate friends who I can talk to about confusing, hard things related to practice and and teaching and being white.

4. Flowers in the bathroom. These lilies from the grocery store smell amazing.

5. My tiny family. Along with practice, they are the foundation that keeps me sane, keeps me from giving up.

Bonus joy: snow, a new roof, going to a movie with Eric, a sunny warm fall day, sleeping in, getting all the laundry done on Friday, hanging out with Mikalina, Pilates with Carrie and Ashley, swimming lessons, swimming, sitting in the sauna, aqua aerobics, HGTV, a big glass of cold clean water.